– Grandfather built a cottage in Laurentians. Whole extended family spent summers there. On a little lake – something like a 1 mile walk around it. I used to swim across and back.
– Friends with a neighbor kid our age Martin Tekala was name? Used to bicycle with him and brother. One trip, did a fast downhill. Terry went off road and broke collar bone. We lost him! A stranger took him to hospital.
– Martin had a stash of cigarettes, hidden buried under a bush nearby. First cigarette I tried.
– My father smoked. Grandfather and uncles did too.
– Cottage had 9 bedrooms.
– Cottage was sold after grandmother died. Was left to the 4 siblings… Did not work as shared – My father and his older sister had sibling-rivalry going on. Jennie was widowed with two kids. Anne was living in Toronto.
– Cottage was bought be an architect. Story was he planned to knock down and rebuild, by town did not allow it. So he hired someone to re-build the roof beams (they were 2×4’s). Planned to replace with 2×6’s or something). Every second beam was removed, then work was stopped in the fall. Roof collapsed in the winter… Oh well.
– I remember shovelling snow off that roof in the winter with my dad and brother. Was probably something that was done every winter.
– I remember raking leaves in the fall. Huge pile beside the garage building. Grampa used to get a truck to pick up the pile and deliver to dump.
– Cottage had 2 outhouses (one for men, one for women and children). Well for water. Eventually, town water was available. A small powder room was built (toilet and sink). Sewage was to an underground area (called???). Later, town put in sewage.